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In short
The Guardian Football Weekly (World Cup Daily) episode recaps Group D, F, E results and looks ahead to next matches. Topic: US vs Turkey group finale (US top despite 3-2 loss), Australia vs Paraguay (0-0 draw), Netherlands vs Tunisia (3-1), Japan vs Sweden (1-1; Japan go through), Ecuador’s qualification after beating Germany (scenes in New Jersey), plus Germany’s struggles and Ivory Coast advancing. Guests/panel: Barry Glenn Denning (Guardian/football writer), Mark Langdon (Racing Post), Archie Rintut (panelist; in LA).
Key claims
US defeat to Turkey was inconsequential; Pulisic’s return is a positive. Australia-Paraguay was the tournament’s worst match so far; both teams played low blocks. Japan’s slick goal sets up a tough Brazil last-32. Tunisia’s repeated early concessions reflect federation/infrastructure failures. Germany’s rotation and balance issues raise doubts; Nagelsmann made only two enforced changes.
Notable examples
Pulisic’s ankle/calf updates; Alanga’s frustration photo; Tunisia’s own goal; Ecuador’s equaliser by Nilsson Angulo; Germany’s dangerous face-kick incident; Pepe scoring twice for Ivory Coast.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOReview of Group D Matches
1:59 to 3:00
Discussion of the outcomes of recent football matches in Group D.
“Hey, Mark Langdon from the Racing Post, of course.”
US Team Analysis
3:03 to 5:29
Analysis of the US team's performance and implications of their loss to Turkey.
“In the 97th minute, Mark, I wrote, overall, a brilliant group stage for them.”
Turkey's Disappointing Tournament
5:31 to 7:34
Exploration of Turkey's struggles and performance evaluations in the World Cup.
“You know, they've got Bosnia in the last 32, which is not a bad draw.”
Australia vs. Paraguay: A Dull Match
7:36 to 10:40
Discussion on the lackluster match between Australia and Paraguay.
“how how these things to what factors then get put as important when you go out but yeah like huge underperformance from them.”
Looking Ahead: Knockout Stages
10:40 to 14:00
Preview of the upcoming matches and potential challenges for teams in the knockout stages.
“And a draw suited both teams and it showed.”
Paraguay's Challenges and Upcoming Matches
14:00 to 15:38
Discussion about Paraguay's performance and upcoming matchups in the World Cup.
“I really want to see the nuances of this game.”
Paraguay's Challenges and Upcoming Matches
17:05 to 17:34
Discussion about Paraguay's performance and upcoming matchups in the World Cup.
“And we all know the worst part of being the one who fronts the money for the passes or housing.”
Group F Analysis: Sweden and Japan's Draw
17:47 to 23:05
Analysis of the match between Sweden and Japan and implications for the tournament.
“Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.”
Tunisia's Struggles in the World Cup
23:06 to 25:33
Examination of Tunisia's poor performance and the underlying issues in their football system.
“I don't think that Brazil are in their most comfortable phase.”
Ecuador's Historic Victory
25:34 to 28:00
Celebration of Ecuador's qualification and the emotional impact on fans after their win.
“not the hallmark of every single football federation on the planet?”
Show all 14 chapters
Ecuador's Historic Win and VAR Discussions
28:00 to 36:30
Explore Ecuador's emotional victory, VAR controversies, and Germany's struggles.
“Second, Ecuador have four and a zero goal difference there.”
Upcoming Matches and Food Talk
37:18 to 42:01
Preview tomorrow's games, discuss teams' performances, and share personal food anecdotes.
“Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.”
Lunch Conversations and Diets
42:01 to 43:00
The hosts discuss their lunch choices and dietary preferences in a light-hearted manner.
“That's hard work to take them out And then I had some chow mein as well which had various bits Are we still on lunch?”
Fan Mail and DJ Set Plans
43:00 to 44:10
The hosts read a fan's message about their disappointment and humorous DJ set plans.
“Dear Max, as Scotland fans, we're very disappointed by our loss to Brazil on Wednesday night in Miami.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Max Rushden:This is The Guardian.
0:30And the best part is you can spend the money you get right away anywhere Apple Pay is accepted. Every payment is secure and protected by Face ID, Touch ID, or Passcode, and your transactions are never shared on a public feed. Set up your Apple Cash today in the Wallet app. Apple Cash services are provided by Green.Bank, member FDIC. Terms apply.
0:56Mark Langdon:Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. Turkey beat the US with the last kick of the game in LA. Could they be the tournament's dark horses after all? Brackets, no. The US took the lead with Aiden Trusty's trusty left foot. Turkey turned it around. Sebastian Berhalter equalised before the Turks salvaged some pride. But ultimately, it doesn't matter. The US still topped the group. Meanwhile, Australia, Paraguay was not a classic. Australia threw in second. Paraguay should get through. Netherlands win Group F. Brian, brobby, brobby, brobby on the score sheet again. Also a great own goal by Tunisia, who've not had the best World Cup.
1:26Mark Langdon:Japan and Sweden both go through after a one-all draw. Two delightful goals. Japan finish above Sweden and their prize is a game against Brazil in the last 32. Joy for Ecuador in New Jersey. A sea of yellow watched Germany take the lead despite a very high foot kicking someone in the face. But they came back and won it late on. It looked like the whole stadium was in tears at the end. And two goals for Pepe for the Ivory Coast as they beat Curaçao. We'll look ahead to tomorrow's games. France, Norway and Spain. Uruguay could both be good. We know Mark Langdon's been on the brackets, but did he eat a vegetable?
1:54Mark Langdon:Find out on today's Guardian Football Weekly. On the panel today, Barry Glenn Denning, welcome. Hi, Max. Hey, Mark Langdon from the Racing Post, of course. Yeah, hi, Max. And joining us as well, Archie Rintut. Hi, Archie. Hey, Max. YouTube viewers may see that we are in our hotel rooms because it's very late and my bed is there and that's where I want to be. But before that, I will discuss these six football matches.
2:21Max Rushden:Just to be clear, it's not a hotel. What are we in? We're in an apartment.
2:27Mark Langdon:We are in an apartment. I mean, okay. I mean, it feels pedantic at this stage. Let's get through the six games first.
2:33Max Rushden:I would argue there's quite a big difference between an apartment and a hotel room. Yeah, I don't think I'd have a breakfast bar in a hotel. So I'm at the breakfast bar.
2:44Mark Langdon:All right. Okay. Can we do these matches? Let's start at Group D. So the US topped the group. Six points. Australia have four. Paraguay have four. They're both through. Paraguay, I have to wait, but they're probably through. Turkey are out. They were out anyway. But we'll begin with their win over the US 3-2. They made lots of changes to the US. Pulisic came back. In the 97th minute, Mark, I wrote, overall, a brilliant group stage for them. Does that goal that happened after I wrote that make any difference? It shouldn't do. Whether there is a slight change in the nation, I suppose, remains to be seen.
3:21but the job had already been done. This was a reserve team that was put out by Pochettino. It won't be anything like the side that plays for the rest of the World Cup as long as the US are in it. There were still positives to take out of the game, particularly with Pulisic coming back from injury. So it shouldn't do. And I think if anybody kind of jumps to sort of wild conclusions on the back of a defeat to Turkey, I would sort of disagree with them quite strongly. it didn't really matter.
3:54Mark Langdon:Yeah, and I guess, Barry, they faced some adversity, which is probably useful.
3:58Max Rushden:I'd largely agree with Mark, but I think from the supporters' fan point of view, this would be a bit of a wake-up call to see their team lose. I appreciate that some of the fans at the game tonight, like Brad Pitt, Leo DiCaprio, Colin Farrell and his Stars and Stripes, They're diehards. They never miss a game. So they'll know that this defeat is massively inconsequential in the cosmic scheme of things. But I think there are probably an awful lot of Johnny-come-latelys clambering aboard the USA bandwagon for this World Cup, and there's nothing wrong with that. That's how the sport grows. Who will totally have expected the USA to beat this apparently terrible turkey team and we'll now be going oh they lost that that wasn't supposed to happen and americans love to win you know they'll they'll follow their team in any sport as long as the the team is winning um so yeah a bit of a reality check for them and probably no harm in that at all but um i've completely forgotten the original question you asked me having no i think you've
5:12Mark Langdon:Whatever I asked, and I've also forgotten it, I think you have answered it. Okay, fair enough. Because I don't know about you, Archie, you're in a different part of LA, but around here there is a sort of, an LA is so big that you're probably like 200 miles away. But there is a sense of sort of growing confidence just in the number of US shirts you're seeing on a match day and this idea that actually they could do quite well. You know, they've got Bosnia in the last 32, which is not a bad draw. And I guess you want a host country to do well. I don't know if you want them to win it, but you want them to, you know, I feel a growing sense of confidence.
5:49I wouldn't say, despite even being quite close to the stadium here in LA, I'm out by the beach. And I wouldn't say that in this city you can really feel that there's a buzz around it because LA is so big and it sprawls in the way it does. I do think that, look, they've got off to fast starts now in each of their three group games. and I think this was obviously the most inconsequential of them. I wonder how they'll go if they struggle to break a team down a bit. I think that Bosnia are going to be a tough nut to crack if it is them that they do eventually face. And they are going to have to face some adversity and I'm looking forward to seeing how they do with that.
6:40As for Turkey, it's been such a disappointing tournament for them and this was a game where even though they've won, They couldn't really win because their fans will go, well, we're working for the two previous games in the tournament. And Vincenzo Montella has taken such heat for some of his decisions in the tournament. For example, the fact that Denis Gould, their only true number nine, played 22 minutes in the first two games. The fact that their best players didn't turn up in Gould, Yildiz, Cialanoglu, Cialanoglu left out tonight as well. but there have been lots of problems issues that have been raised whether it's about the association not taking a sports psychologist with them because the players had difficulty switching off from the criticism of them due to their spare time activities of just making sure their haircuts and beards were looking all right is one line that I've heard so yeah it's amazing how how these things to what factors then get put as important when you go out but yeah like huge underperformance from them.
7:46Mark Langdon:Although they did, the substitutes did celebrate Barry, I mean I know you don't like high-vis lanyarded bibbed substitutes celebrating but for a goal that didn't make any difference to Turkey do you forgive them that moment?
7:58Max Rushden:Well, I would say the bibs are not high-vis, they're very low-vis Okay, thank you. And just in the interest of maintaining this pedantry How long have I got left? Tell me, tell me. Yeah, look, I no longer have a problem with it. It's fine. It clearly meant a lot to them to win this game, even though they're still going out of the tournament. You know, there's pride at stake. They were getting hammered at home. This probably won't, you know, they'll probably still get hammered at home, but at least they go out with their head. Like, they played really well in this game. I was more or less taken one for the team by devoting myself entirely to Paraguay, Australia, but I saw the goals, and the Turkish scored a couple of cracking goals there.
8:50Mark Langdon:Yeah, Gula's pass was great, you know, in the build-up to the second, wasn't it? On Pulisic, good for him to be back, Mark, and to get a bit of time on the pitch. Poor, is it Jenny Taft? Jenny Taft, the Fox reporter, who's had to follow his calf for the last two weeks. Yeah, the calf has become... You've got to see him running around, yeah. The calf has become the metatarsal with Beckham and Rooney. We've now got minute-by-minute updates on Pulisic's calf. He looked fine when he came on, went close to scoring on a couple of occasions. He's the absolute poster boy of the team. You can understand why they would want him back for the knockout stages because he is the one, not the only player, but he is their best player.
9:42And it's important to get 30 minutes into him. He looked fully fit. So for the knockout game, you'd expect him to start. And yeah, for Jenny's sake, let's hope he does.
9:55Mark Langdon:Yeah, absolutely. He had that one shot that went just wide. Perhaps the save of the tournament from Kakia with that fingertip save. I think he completely winded himself by doing it. But anyway, that was that game. Paraguay nil, Australia nil. I mean, there are some nil-nils that are bad, but there are some nil-nils that are really bad. And, Barry, you took one for the team, but so did I and so did Mark. We didn't really have a champion, and so did our team before the game. I looked at, Barry, I looked at you in injury time and you did look asleep. I would say you were talking, but your eyes did not look open.
10:30Max Rushden:Well, that often happens, to be fair. But, yeah, this was, I would say, the worst game of the tournament by a considerable distance so far. It made England-Ghana look like, just let Joe go bonito, you know. It was awful, like truly awful. And a draw suited both teams and it showed. I think the biggest cheer of the night was when an Aussie fan was shown on the Jumbotron drinking lager out of a shoe, which gives you a measure of how bad the game was. It did spark into life in the second minute of added time. I have that written. It came to life in the 93rd minute. I have written. So Mauricio had a chance saved and then Yengi had a shot saved by Orlando Hill.
11:23Max Rushden:I wondered if after the second drinks break Paraguay might give it a bit more of a rattle just in the hope of winning and getting an easier draw in the round of 32. But they were clearly more terrified of conceding a goal than they were encouraged by the thought of scoring one. So for most of the second half, both teams playing a low block and very little going on in the middle.
11:52Mark Langdon:Yeah, I did think, Archie, that Australia were much better in this game than the US game. They looked like they had a bit of intent. Volpato and Jordy Boss down the right looked quite a nice combination. Jackson Irvine is a very calming presence. There were some positives for them. The fact that Tony Popovich rotated again, but this time found, I think, what was a pleasing line-up for Australia and a better balance to the team. The fact that, I think, key thing is that Nestor Irencunda started as well because he is such an outlet. And whilst I don't think he was their most dangerous player on the evening, I'm struggling with which time of day to say.
12:33So it's the evening for you.
12:34Mark Langdon:You can live in the now, Archie. That's what we're doing. Yeah, Jordy Boss was excellent down at wingback, for example. And look, it's still a big achievement for them to qualify for the next round. And I would still place them in the category of underdogs at every tournament they go to. And when you see how teams like Scotland have performed where they don't look like they have a structure or a plan. I mean, Tony Popovich has kept everyone guessing with his plan in every single game so far. But yeah, the thing that caught the eye here was the fact that Paragry went into the Australian box for the first time in the 38th minute.
13:13And that was from a long throw. The main thing that stood out here was just the number of thumping tackles and just seeing limbs flying into places that you wouldn't expect them. And I think the key emotion I saw, I don't know if you can name it as an emotion, but I just saw an awful lot of wincing throughout the game. It's very much of vitamin C.
13:32Mark Langdon:Yeah, that was us. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, Paraguay are pretty bleak, Mark. I mean, it sort of ends CISO and then 10 blokes just running about. Yeah. Is that too harsh? No, their first half XG was 0.04, which says a lot about how they sort of, I was going to say attack the game, but that wouldn't be the right phrase. That was the way they went about the game. Not going to do them any favours. Diego Gomez, probably the one player outside of NC, so that has got some creative juices. he got a yellow card which is going to rule him out of the last 32 game as well which like I said not going to do them any favours I was really offended by the ITVX I hovered over the stream after about 86 minutes and it asked if I wanted to watch from the start
14:28no was the emphatic answer
14:32Mark Langdon:Imagine the masochist who went, yeah, okay, I'll give this another go. I really want to see the nuances of this game. Anyway, it all means that the USA played Bosnia. Australia will play the second in Group G. That's the Belgium-Egypt-Aran-New Zealand game. And Paraguay marked likely to be Germany. So that is such a big difference, presuming that Belgium don't finish second in Group G. Yeah, I think they should have. I think Paraguay sort of last five, ten minutes should have had more of a go. But yeah, maybe they just haven't got it in them.
15:07Max Rushden:I suspect they'll also be missing Omar Alderete for their next game because I don't know if he finished the game, but he suffered a bad injury.
15:18Mark Langdon:I don't think one of his legs finished the game. The other one did, as far as I can tell. So some bravery to be on that. Just on the US as well, trust he really turned his ankle. That looked really bad late on, didn't he? but they should be happy with the game against Bosnia in the last 32. But as Archie said, Bosnia will park the bus. And so it'll be interesting to see how they go. And that'll do for part one. Part two, we'll do Group F. Hi, Podfans. Max here. Barry's here too. Hello. Global Weekly is supported by Gradient FC. Now, Barry, with the World Cup underway, we know player performance will be under a microscope.
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16:29Mark Langdon:Now, I know you hate making match predictions, Barry, but maybe all that could change at the World Cup with Gradient FC with head-to-head player comparison tools that show who's best across more than 100 grades in metrics. It's easy to build and defend any prediction. And here's something else that will appeal to you, Barry. It's free. Fantastic. Explore it for yourself at gradientfc.com or download the Gradient FC app from the Apple Store or Google Play.
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17:47Mark Langdon:Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. So Group F then. Netherlands win the group on seven. Japan have five points. Sweden in third on four. They go through Tunisia zero. Not been a brilliant tournament for them. Let's start the game between Sweden and Japan. I suppose it's a slightly odd game, Mark, because once the Netherlands were winning in the other game, it was sort of pretty clear that had Sweden won, they'd play Brazil. So did they want – I mean, I was sort of thinking, what a disastrous save by Suzuki to keep out Isak in injury time because now Japan play Brazil and Sweden probably have an easier 32 I mean we don't know where they're going to go there is a chance that they get France which um so you might not be it would be harder but um it was another game where a draw wasn't a bad result for either team in the end and it ended in a draw um you know which comes back to the issues with the format overall because Sweden wanted to make sure that they were one of the teams that if you finish with four points, you are going through.
18:52So, you know, had they lost the game and started to chase it against Japan, it could have got difficult for them.
18:59Mark Langdon:Sorry, like if it's just two going through, it's a totally different football match, isn't it? Like Sweden have to bomb on and go for it and it's just a much more entertaining game. Yeah, it definitely would have been a very different game. As it was, it was an even enough match. I think we saw from Graham Potter's team selection that he was thinking a point was a good result. Because while he had the three up front with Alanga, Isak and Yokores, he also had Lindelof in central midfield to start the match. So I think he was more than happy to take the point. And Netherlands had raced into that lead against Tunisia.
19:34And even had they not gone in front, I think Japan always knew that that was going to end in a Dutch victory. So they just maybe weren't going up full tilt either. Very interested to see how they go on, though, against Brazil. I mean, that's not an easy last 32 game for Brazil. A lot of the teams that have won the groups are going to have much more comfortable paths you would have fought through to the last 16. And it's definitely not a gimme for them.
20:01Mark Langdon:Someone who was giving it a go, Barry, is Anthony Alanga. He didn't realise at the end that a draw is enough to go through. And there was an amazing photo of him beating the floor in frustration. And Graham Potter said afterwards, bless him, we did tell him.
Read the full transcript
20:15Max Rushden:Right, I did notice that. He was sitting on the ground looking incredibly upset. I didn't realise he thought Sweden had gone out. So that does make a lot of sense now.
20:29Mark Langdon:In a way, quite good to not tell the players. And then they might go for it a bit more. I mean, he's scored two really good goals in this tournament, actually.
20:36Max Rushden:He has. His goal here was just cut in from the right, left-footed shot around the keeper inside the post. Really good strike. Before that, he'd shown a few nice tricks down the wing, but his final ball was often usually found wanting, which has been a hallmark of his game throughout the season with Newcastle. But yeah, he got his goal, so that's good. I thought the Japan goal was outstanding as well. Superb finish by Dyson Mieda after making a brilliant run onto a pass from Doan. Yeah, this was an odd game. I think both teams looked to be happy with the draw, and then when Japan went ahead, Sweden said, right, we need to buck our ideas up here.
21:30and then Sweden closed out the stronger.
21:33Max Rushden:They had three good chances in a row towards the end and didn't score any of them.
21:39Mark Langdon:Yeah, I mean, that Japan goal, Archie, as I said, is so beautiful. And the kind of football that we expect from them now, like that slick passing football, and it will be so interesting to see that, how they approach the Brazil game, because I think they should take it to Brazil. They have had excellent results at the last World Cup, for example, against teams where when the other team's been on the front foot, then they've actually looked more comfortable. And them going out against Croatia in the end was actually because they had to take more of the initiative. And yet, I think we've seen in how they've evolved since then that they do look more comfortable having more of the ball.
22:17You saw it also with their result against England in that friendly not too long ago as well. And the thing I find fascinating about this is that But since the start of this World Cup cycle, they've used 86 players in terms of rotation. Amazing.
22:35Mark Langdon:That is like a Sunday league team where people keep dropping out. You have to get your mate on a Saturday morning just before. So no one can complain that they've not had at least a shot. And everybody seems so on the same page of knowing what their role is. And yeah, I think slick is the right word for that goal. And also because not many teams can play that kind of football at international level who look like they're capable of pulling that off. So to be honest, I back Japan to beat Brazil right now. I don't think that Brazil are in their most comfortable phase. and I think that the games that they had against Haiti in Scotland, those are two weak opponents.
23:22And look, a lot of things were going to have to come together after what happened against Morocco, but I think that Japan could be a real stumbling block for them.
23:30Mark Langdon:Yeah, I think so. And just one on Sweden is that Isaac and Jokoris played together, but they didn't really link up at all. So it'd be quite interesting to see what Potter does in the next round. Netherlands beat Tunisia 3-1. Tunisia down one after three minutes with a brilliant own goal. Massive shin into the back of the net. Archie, you wanted a word on why Tunisia had been so bad. Yeah, so a good friend of mine is from Tunisia. And even before the first game began, I got a text from him at 4am being like, just waking up for this hate watch. And I thought, look, it can't be that bad what you're about to see.
24:07And yet they have managed to disprove me in every game by conceding inside the opening 10 minutes in every game. And look, from what I understand, it's about a much bigger problem in Tunisian football about the infrastructure not being there and talent production because of underfunding of training centres and no long-term vision and over-reliance on finding players of dual nationality and, crucially, no accountability within the Tunisian Football Federation when things have gone wrong in the last few years, the poor results of the national team at youth team level and at senior level have been continually brushed under the carpet and the culprits have never gone.
24:46And I think that when you see the noises that Avey Renard was making, even after one game being like, I'm not too sure I'm going to be here for much longer. And you look at the fact that Tunisia have had 20 coaches in the last 18 years. You think, yeah, something is not right. And I felt at first I laughed when I saw Elias Skiri's own goal because that's the natural thing to do, I think, when you see that. But then, to be honest, that laughter turned to sadness because I thought he's not really to blame for all of this. And they're having to continually carry the can for, yeah, a weak federation above them.
25:25Max Rushden:Is Blazers in the National Football Federation failing to take accountability not the hallmark of every single football federation on the planet? Honestly It certainly is in the Republic of Ireland Football Federation and the FA The second conclusion I take, which is speaking to fans and journalists from so many countries ahead of this World Cup, I realised it's just, it's a real minority who is happy with their National Football Federation. I get that by their nature, they're difficult things to run and difficult to please everybody because you're having to represent so many parts of the country and obviously there's a pressure for success, but there was just so many poorly run ones that But it seems to be a criticism of so many teams where things have gone wrong.
26:21And it doesn't seem to land with the coach that there's so much which is going on higher up.
26:27Max Rushden:I just think if you get a job as an executive in a national FA, it's a very cushy gig. So you're always going to be more concerned about keeping your own position than what is better for the national federation or the national team or youth development, etc. and so on. Maybe, Barry, you should have used that as the job you would have liked to have done instead of the binmen.
26:52Mark Langdon:I was thinking it's those small, well-run countries, Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth. That's what they need to look at. A quick one on the Netherlands, Mark. They've had a good group stage. Broby's scoring, my prediction for the Golden Boots. So where are they at, do you think? Well, a difficult last 32 game against Morocco. The good news is that if you get through that, it's Canada or South Africa in the last 16. So I think both of those teams will feel like win it and we've got an amazing chance of being in the quarterfinals. This was a very easy game for them. I think Van Hecker, who scored the third goal, I saw a stat saying he completed now.
27:33In that game, he completed the most passes in any match so far at the World Cup. There was no pressure on the Dutch. They've got good players. When Japan put them under pressure, they weren't great in Neverland. That game against Morocco looks quite close to me.
27:54Mark Langdon:So then Group E, Germany top of the group, six points. Cote d 'Ivoire also six points there. Second, Ecuador have four and a zero goal difference there. And actually the scenes bury at the end in New Jersey when Ecuador won. You know, the full-time scenes were brilliant. The amount of cutaways to Ecuador fans crying was sort of beautiful.
28:16Max Rushden:Yeah, it clearly meant an awful lot to them. It's only the second time they've ever qualified at the group stage. And on the BBC TV coverage, Tim Vickery, the doyen of all things South American football, he reckoned it was the greatest moment in the history of the Ecuadorian national team, even though it's the second time they've gone through. I think he said, and he clearly felt aggrieved on their behalf as well, that they haven't been getting the rub of the green in this tournament. And even in this game, they went a goal down to a goal that shouldn't have stood. But they came back and won the game, and hats off to them.
28:55Max Rushden:Nilsson Angulo showed talent. He's kept hidden thus far at Sunderland, scoring a brilliant goal to equalise for them. And just as an aside, Sunderland are very much on course to win the Golden Boot in this tournament. I think they're only behind Paris Saint-Germain so far and level with Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.
29:20Mark Langdon:Just imagine when Thomas Tuchel brings on Kevin Phillips, then they'll be absolutely flying, won't they? I mean, on that first goal, because I was so surprised, Mark, and I don't know how many replays you've seen, but he gets kicked in the face. His boot scrapes down his face and I don't blame the ref on the pitch, but I want the game to flow, right? It is conflict for those of us who don't want VAR, want the game to flow, but don't think you should be able to kick people in the face. Yeah, hands up. I was eating my lunch during the first half of this game and you were apolactic with rage, Max, on the WhatsApp group and I looked up once and it looked okay to me and I didn't know what you were going on about.
29:57I've since seen the incident again, and yeah, it should have been called back. It was dangerous play. I feel like VAR has generally been okay in this tournament. I'm not desperate for it to be in the game, but even when I think back to the Mbappe penalty, it feels like ages ago now against Senegal, when VAR quite rightly pulled it back to the referee and said, you need to have a look at this. and the referee bizarrely said it wasn't a penalty. I think VAR had done its job at that point. And yeah, a rare misstep. But it wasn't great VARing, that's for sure.
30:39Mark Langdon:No, it wasn't. Archie, your reflections on Germany so far? Kind of like the Euros. In the, started by thrashing a team and then after that, things got a little bit tighter in each game. There's a big subplot going on, which you might not have heard about, where Jurgen Klopp is an expert on Magenta TV, which is showing all the games in Germany. And right at the start of the tournament, when they were discussing with Thomas Muller, who should be in the Germany team, Klopp made a throwaway comment where he said, look, thankfully Julian Nilsman is picking the team for now. And then he kind of laughed.
31:23Did he then look at the camera and wink? For now. He kind of did. He kind of did. But the thing is, is that in Germany, that initiated a firework. And it led to Klopp turning up to the next to the first Germany game, wearing a Germany shirt. And at the end of the game against Curacao, he apologised to Julian Nagelsmann on camera. and he looked so nervous. It was so weird seeing Jurgen Klopp grovel. It's just not an emotion that you would expect to see from him. Now, obviously, the reason why this is so controversial is because it's expected that Jurgen Klopp would quite like the Germany job. And Thomas Muller made the comment after he said it was like, oh, well, we're not in September yet, Jurgen.
32:11So Julian Nagelsmann has gritted his teeth through this. You can tell that he absolutely hates it. And yet the criticism from Klopp after the game today was that you know players are in too many positions you didn't say this directly to Nagelsmann it should be said but I think that it was it was pretty good analysis in the the Germany team under Julian Nagelsmann it feels like the coach is the one trying to shine rather than letting the players do their jobs but also I just don't know about the right mix of of attacking players right now there's something wrong with the balance they did get over the line against Ivory Coast, but they were quite fortunate.
32:51It could have gone the other way if Simon Odinger takes that chance. So look, obviously missing Nico Schlotterbeck for the rest of the tournament as well. That's a huge injury blow. So yeah, I wouldn't be confident of Germany getting past France should they make it that far.
33:07Max Rushden:Can I ask Archie, were you surprised that Julie Nagel's man only made two changes for this game, both of them enforced? because Germany's next game is on Monday, I think. And I know he said we didn't play enough games together in the build-up to the tournament, so we want to play a set team now. But the fact that they lost isn't going to do a huge amount for morale. And a lot of these players look like they were looking after themselves, making sure, Manuel Neuer in particular, I would say. Right. making sure not to get injured ahead of the knockout stages. The idea, as you said, was he wanted them to gel, but instead of gelling, they kind of congealed.
33:54It wasn't... It's difficult to take any positives out of it. And when you see how Mauricio Pochettino approached the game for the US in terms of the rotations, if anything, it solidified who his starting line-up is, whereas this has just only cast more doubt onto who people think should be starting. and particularly the centre of midfield, Felix Nemecha, who's been great so far, had a really poor game. But it also just raised questions in everyone from Denis Undav to Josue Kimmich to Jurgen Klopp all said, look, it's very clear that Ecuador wanted it more. And Julian Nagelsmann refused to admit that.
34:32He's like, no, no, that Ecuador were just wanting to take more risks. And I think you need everybody being on the same page from how they're seeing things. And of course, you can say, well, sometimes coaches are just saying one thing in the media and another thing behind closed doors. But Uli Nogsman is always pretty truthful in terms of the tone of what he's saying anyway. So, yeah, I think there are a few concerns.
34:58Mark Langdon:Ivory Coast beat Carissao 2-0. So they make the knockouts for the first time. Aware when we're saying knockouts for the first time, the last 32 is different. But, you know, they did come second in this group, Mark. so they would have got through had it been just the top two going through and that's really big for them. Yeah, Pepe got both the goals. Di Monde on the left-hand side created the first. They've got good players all over the pitch actually. Sort of one of them teams that I hadn't considered much going into the tournament and then when they played their first game and you see the starting 11, you go, I recognise him, I recognise him.
35:34and all of a sudden, most of their players are playing at a reasonably high level. The Ecuador game in their opening one was one that could have gone either way, but they managed to nick it. I thought they played very well against Germany and definitely should have got something out of that game. And then they've won this one comfortably. So they've got whoever comes second in that France-Norway group next. It'll be a difficult game, but it'll be a difficult game for whoever's got to play them as well. yeah they've surprised me with how good they've been actually so far
36:07Mark Langdon:so Ivory Coast will play as you say they'll be probably supporting Norway oh they'll be supporting France won't they in the France-Norway game because they play whoever comes second Netherlands, Morocco, Ecuador most likely play Mexico just a reminder we've got live shows 1st of September at Vicar Street in Dublin 9th of September Soho Theatre in Walthamstow so come along to both of them please guardian.co.uk they'll be similar but come along to both of them anyway guardian.co.uk slash football weekly live and in part three we'll take a quick look at tomorrow's games.
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37:27Mark Langdon:Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. Pretty aware that most of you will be you know, not quite starting, but happening. But Norway, France, Senegal, Iraq, that is Group I, not Group L. They do look similar. We've made that mistake before. Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Spain in Group H, New Zealand, Belgium, Egypt, Iran in Group G. What takes your fancy, Barry?
37:52Max Rushden:I'm very much looking forward to Norway, France and Uruguay, Spain. I expect, like most people are, Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia as well. I fancy Cap Verdale, fancy their chances of beating Saudi Arabia, and it would be absolutely sensational if they made it into the knockout stages, because I don't think anyone gave them a prayer at the start of the tournament. I certainly didn't.
38:16Mark Langdon:It's good because that's winner takes all, right? They both need to win to have a chance of getting through.
38:21Max Rushden:Yeah. So those are the three that jump out at me, certainly. I guess I was looking forward to that New Zealand v Belgium game I mean probably for the wrong reasons Belgium haven't been very good so far And are under pressure to get at least something out of the game Maybe a draw will be enough But I think it's a game they'll expect to win But they would have expected to have beaten Iran and they didn't And they would have expected to have played better against Egypt and they didn't. So not a particularly well-coached team. A side that's got a struggling centre-forward in Lukaku. A midfielder in De Bruyne who's trying to do everything because he can see there's not that much around him to help.
39:14They're a team under pressure, really, Belgium, because it looked an easy group on paper before a ball was kicked and they're still not qualified. and potentially in danger of going out. I would expect them to beat New Zealand, but they do need to improve. They've been very poor so far. Archie? Two things. Worth mentioning that Egypt-Iran is in Seattle and this is the designated Pride game. So, yeah, seeing how that all goes down is something I'll be keeping an eye on. I just want to mention with Spain that not actually something to do with the game, but probably my favourite clip that I've seen online of the World Cup so far, which is Borja Iglesias and Pedro Porro messing about, playing a bit of basketball.
40:01And Pedro Porro sinks one and he turns to the camera and goes, Michael Jackson.
40:11And Borja Iglesias double takes it and goes,
40:15Mark Langdon:Michael Jordan. Do you know the clips I've been seeing? I keep seeing clips of Mexican fans either being surprised with shirts or tickets to the game from their children, and I'm a bit tired and emotional. They really get me going. I was watching quite a lot of those during Australia-Paraguay. Rob writes, I won't be the first or the last to point out that burritos contain beans, usually black beans. Mark even said it himself when he gave the contents of his burrito. And shock horror, beans are vegetables. An own goal. He's off the mark. Keep up the good work, says Rob. I like refried beans. Refried beans are among my favorite.
40:56Your pervert. Yeah. Among my sort of favorite foods from outside Europe.
41:03Mark Langdon:You have to go to the vegetable priest to confess, don't you, when you've eaten a vegetable. It's been a big day on the vegetable front, Mark. Talk to us. It's been a big day on the food front, I think, all together, to be honest, Max. I started with honey nut Cheerios, as every morning does. Yeah, of course. I was up early this morning, so I needed a bridge between lunch, and there was still some mac and cheese left, so I polished that off before lunch. I went for Panda Express for lunch. Sorry, this is a mac and cheese brunch, a sort of just bonus brunch. Yeah, it was a bridge. I'll call it a bridge.
41:40Okay, the mac and cheese bridge. Take me to the bridge. Panda Express for lunch, the big plates. so it had the classic orange chicken also had some short rib and some shrimp with some egg fried rice which had carrots and peas You can't be taking them out can you?
42:03Mark Langdon:That's hard work to take them out And then I had some chow mein as well which had various bits Are we still on lunch? Yeah we're still on lunch I mean the people on Reddit that have been worried about my diet I can sleep easy now because I've polished off a load of greens. And then for dinner, Rory, part of the backroom team on this podcast, he cooked a lovely lasagna for dinner. And he made a special one for you, didn't he? A kid's lasagna for you. He made one that was tomato-less for me. But I did have some of the salad that was on the side. I couldn't believe it. There you were with the tongs, picking tiny bits of lettuce and making sure to avoid any other type of vegetable from the salad.
42:47Mark Langdon:I do not like beetroot. I will not be eating beetroot, no. Noted, noted. Okay, well, what a journey we're on. Yeah, big day for you. Blimey, you must be in a lie. That lunch is quite exceptional, isn't it? Charlie and Joe write, Dear Max, as Scotland fans, we're very disappointed by our loss to Brazil on Wednesday night in Miami. However, very grateful that Barry managed to find time in his busy schedule to fit in a DJ set in a Latino club in South Beach to lift our spirits. I've put it in the WhatsApp group if you'd like to have a look, gents. On behalf of the Totten Army, please pass on our appreciation to Barry.
43:19Mark Langdon:We look forward to any details on future sets. There we are. I'd say it's a sort of six out of ten. Who's that MP? Tom Watson. It's sort of a six out of ten, Barry. Or is it just a man with glasses, isn't it?
43:34Max Rushden:And that looks like Leo Messi standing behind me. Yeah. that looks a lot less like me than the bloke who looked like robert snodgrass who wasn't robert
43:44Mark Langdon:snodgrass looked like robert snodgrass yeah noted noted but thanks anyway um and if you would like married to do a dj set in a latino club anywhere uh in i would say it it has to be on sunset boulevard because i'm not sure you've left sunset boulevard in the two weeks you've been here yet Barry so if there is a Latino club on Sunset Boulevard would you DJ on it no okay thank you so much uh thanks for playing along uh and that'll do for today thank you everybody uh thanks Mark thank you Max thanks Archie thank you cheers Barry thanks I don't know how to DJ I suspect
44:22Max Rushden:you just put on a mixtape and press play but um there might be more to it than that
44:29Mark Langdon:I'm sure they'll help you. We could go down to Bosanova. You know, that's on this street. Spin the wheels. Football Weekly is produced by Rory Simon and Matt Bentley-Viney. Our executive producers are Joel Grobe and Danielle Stephens. And we'll be back tomorrow.
44:48Max Rushden:This is The Guardian.
44:58Mark Langdon:Every story is a technology story in one way or another. And on The Interface, we decode the tech that's rewiring your week and your world. On this week's episode, is AI pushing us towards an infinite work week? And this year's World Cup is the most technologically advanced ever. But is it making the game better or worse? Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.